


There's No Remedy for Memory

by Kpop_personalities



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Kageyama Tobio-centric, M/M, Mates, Oikage Day, Oikage Day 2021, Protective Karasuno Volleyball Club, Protective Sugawara Koushi, mermaid, no one dies, suga is a mom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 02:36:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28646136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kpop_personalities/pseuds/Kpop_personalities
Summary: Being a merman living in the Kitagawa Daiichi territory should’ve been the dream. The leader and king, Oikawa Tooru, had the voice of a siren, able to make any enemy scared of crossing the borders, and his beauty and speed was unmatchable. The second-in-command, Iwaizumi Hajime, was most probably the strongest merman out there. Together, their strategies for hunts, scavenges and fights were the most structured, with tons of plans articulated in case anything went wrong. When living under their care, you would believe to be living the good life.That is, unless your name is Kageyama Tobio. In that case, your life is a living hell, filled with bullies, bruises, insults thrown your way., and much more. The reason for that is self-explanatory:Kageyama Tobio when of age will be bonded to Oikawa Tooru, making him the queen of the Kitagawa Daiichi territory.This story is about his life, and how he was rejected, yet able to find a new family only for the past to come back to haunt him.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Yachi Hitoka, Kageyama Tobio/Oikawa Tooru, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi, Shimizu Kiyoko/Tanaka Ryuunosuke, Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 5
Kudos: 202
Collections: Anu2020





	There's No Remedy for Memory

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!!!
> 
> This does not follow the little mermaid at all, everyone in here is a merperson, and let me tell you the times I almost wrote something along the lines of a character walking is so much it was concerning that I almost dropped this fic.
> 
> I think Oikage Day is today, so this is a celebration to it!!!! I hope you enjoy reading!

This was probably the worst day of Kageyama Tobio’s existence. He had been rudely woken up by an elder mermaid urging him to go hunt something for his highness, while he himself couldn’t even eat. After presenting his catch, Oikawa had made sure to reprimand the younger for having “taken his time only to bring him a common fish that isn’t even good”, which was a lie since Kageyama had made sure to hunt for a fish he had seen Oikawa prior to that morning eat with rigor. He had gone to his hunting class only to have almost been bitten by a shark after a classmate had stuck a red piece of cloth to his tail which had attracted the attention of a nearby shark. Iwaizumi had fortunately been the instructor and had rescued him easily (the other instructors wouldn’t have helped him). When he had realised the piece of cloth was tied in his tail, he had immediately asked the others angrily who had played that stupid prank. Not wanting to be even more hated, Kageyama had said he probably had gotten it stuck while scavenging for Oikawa’s food earlier. Iwaizumi had looked dubious but had sighed and only told him to go take a rest. That’s when Kageyama had gone back to his bed which he had constructed with silks he had found during a scavenger hunt, only to see it completely destroyed, with some pieces of the silk on other people’s bed.

That had been the last straw.

Kageyama fled the resting area to go to one of his favourite spots: on a small crevice, where you would think a merman wouldn’t fit, lay every treasure Kageyama had ever planned on giving to Oikawa during their bonding ceremony. Gold pieces, silk scarfs, beautiful shelves with shiny colours and many more. It had been a year since the old king had died and delegated right before his death Kageyama as Oikawa’s future bonded. Before, everyone used to have a good relationship with him, even though he had been found all alone when he was a small kid, his parents having been killed by sharks a week prior. But the fact that someone who hadn’t even lived his whole life in the Kitagawa Daiichi territory, an outsider no matter how much people had liked him, was the one who was going to be their queen, didn’t sit well with anyone. Mostly not with Oikawa, who had never really liked Kageyama all that much, had turned from tolerating his presence, to outright hating his guts. Everything he did was a mistake: the fish he brought in the morning as an offering were never good, the way he swam was weird, the way he held himself was wrong, the way he would even look at him was wrong.

Kageyama never choose this life though. He never wanted to be the chosen one, the queen. He only wanted to be able to be in peace, living in a place where enemies are rare. The universe seemed to be against that though. The old king had taken a liking to the colour of his tail, reflecting the sea with its blue colour but also had golden like streaks in it, resembling the colour the sun and the ocean make together. Kageyama had learned a lot from him about all sorts of things regarding life skills but also politics. He hadn’t known he was going to be chosen for the next queen but looking back, he should’ve guessed the things the old man had taught him weren’t common knowledge.

He also should’ve never told that old man how much he seemed to like Oikawa.

_“Tobio, what do you think of my son?”_

_“He’s so amazing! He’s so fast, and his strategies during the times he was the leader for a hunt were so elaborated it’s so awesome!”_

_“Mmmh, seems you might have a small crush on him, am I correct to assume so?”_

_“ah, maybe? But I’m not too sure he likes me like that… and anyways I’m not ranked high enough for me to give him an offering for me to ask to be his bonded and I’m too young too!”_

_“If you had the opportunity though, would you want to be bonded with him?”_

_“Ah that would be so nice! I could be like your son, right? Then I wouldn’t pass it for the world!”_

Yeah, if only he hadn’t answered so naively, maybe he would have had a peaceful life.

“Kageyama, where were you? When I went to pick you up so you could meet with his highness your bed was disgusting and you were nowhere to be found!”

“I’m sorry, elder. I was out scavenging- “

**SLAP.**

“Again?! You’re lucky I told his highness how you were still traumatised from the hunt. Speaking of, I heard you had to be helped. How pathetic. What kind of future queen are you going to be? A lazy one who doesn’t even know how to hunt and protect himself, how will you protect your people?”

Kageyama only looked down, realising everyone around was mocking him, laughing at his position.

“Because of this, you can find your own food, I’ll tell his highness not to bother getting you anything. If he already has, the food will be getting eaten by anyone else but you. Now go remake your bed and get out of my sight.”

Kageyama had only nodded, and to an outsider they would’ve thought he would be sad not to see Oikawa. This was absolutely, most definitely, not a fact. Oikawa always made sure to get himself the best fish while getting Kageyama food like shark or electric eels, which were the most disgusting food for merpeople. He was happy he could pick his own food for once. 

When he started heading for a hunting ground, he was intercepted by people from his year, including his two old friends who had dropped him after the whole announcement, Kindaichi and Kunimi. They looked on, bored, as the others were dragging Kageyama along saying they had found a new hunting ground.

A shark nest.

When Kageyama realised where they had led him to, he turned only for someone to suddenly grab his tail. He started trashing, realising they had brought a rope along with them. They were saying he needed a good scare, since Iwaizumi had lectured them when Kageyama had gone back. They were so focused on him they didn’t realise a shark had found them and was suddenly charging towards them. At Kageyama’s scream though, they had turned only to see not only on but five sharks attacking them. They started fleeing, but had forgotten Kageyama still had his tail wrapped, making it impossible for him to swim. When Kindaichi had realised, he turned back only to see A shark charge right at Kageyama. Kunimi was going to go with Kindaichi to save the other, but they all saw the shark bite into Kageyama making him scream in agony.

They were too late.

They had to leave to save themselves, leaving Kageyama for dead.

“Kageyama-kun, wake up!”

Kageyama gasped, shooting up from his sleeping position. Sugawara was looking down at him, his face full of worry. Kageyama immediately latched onto the older, shaking from his nightmare about the time he had been bitten by the shark. Sugawara cooed, wrapping his tail around the other’s, slowly patting his back. After a few minutes, Kageyama had finally calmed down enough to look at the other.

“Thank you for waking me up and for helping me calm down.”

“No problem Kageyama-kun! You’re the last one missing for breakfast, so I volunteered to go wake you up since I know you don’t wake up on your own unless you had a bad night. Shark attack?”

A nod in response. Sugawara sighed, and patted the younger’s head.

“I’m sure a good breakfast will cheer you up, let’s go!”

He dragged the younger to the dining hall, which was basically a huge piece of a boat they had found which had been decorated to look as polished as possible so all the Karasuno people could sit around it in harmony. Here, everyone would eat together, with the King, Sawamura, and the queen, Sugawara, eating at the very middle of the table, and the seats beside them would be consistently filled with a new merperson at every meal. Usually, breakfast and dinner would be eaten in a community, while lunch could be spent with your loved one or your family.

For today, Sugawara had reserved the seat on his right for Kageyama, which no one was jealous of, since everyone knew he needed to be coddled after one of his nightmares. Everyone knew something had happened at his old home, and that he had almost died at the jaws of a shark. Only few people really knew what happened. The King and Queen were obviously the first ones to know, though Hinata Shouyou whom had called himself Kageyama’s best friend after only knowing him for a week, knew what happened. After gaining a friend with him, Kageyama had been invited in his home, where three others resided, Tsukishima Kei, Yamaguchi Tadashi and Hitoka Yachi. After witnessing many of his nightmares, Kageyama had finally told them of his story. Since then, he had been guarded by these four everywhere he went, unless he explicitly asked for some time alone, though that tended to be only on his bad days, like today.

But today was a very special day for Karasuno. They were going to receive the new King of Aoba Johsai, who had killed the last King after a war between them and his pod. No one knew his name, nor his old pod’s name, as he had reunited both his old and new territory under the Aoba Johsai name. The old King had been ruthless, always threatening Karasuno for some of their hunting in exchange of a somewhat peace. Now that he was dead, Karasuno hoped for a real peace treaty with Aoba Johsai, though they knew how complicated this would be, as the territory had doubled from size with the new arrivals. Sawamura hoped for the best.

So, after breakfast, everyone had been assigned a task to make the place as presentable as possible while others who would be allowed in the hall where they would receive the Aoba Johsai King and entourage had been tasked to make themselves look as regal as possible. Kageyama had been helped by the others to wrap his tail to hide his scars. The silk cloth was of black colour with patches of orange to symbolise the Karasuno colours. The cloth was constricting his movements though, he could easily swim just as fast without. The five housemates were sitting in a line, braiding each other’s hair, as the only one who had no long hair, Hinata, was at the start of the braiding line. Kageyama was being pampered as he was the last one in the line, with Tsukishima doing his hair and putting pretty shells in it but making sure he always had some hair to cover his eyes.

They were playing around with accessories when they heard the gong signalling the visitors had entered their territory. Everyone either rushed into the hall or formed to lines by the entrance to show where it was. Kageyama was standing in the hall with Tsukishima and Yamaguchi in front of him, and Hinata and Yachi behind him. On his left side was Kiyoko Shimizu, who looked so much like him they could pass off as siblings, and Ryunosuke Tanaka, her bonded, on his right side. That was how they passed off as to not raise suspicion as to why a random merman who didn’t have an intended would be at such an important hall: him as being disabled, following his older sister and her bonded. The truth was that with how much he had learned with the old Kitagawa Daiichi King, he was essential in knowing many important people in the politics of other territories beyond Karasuno. In fact, Kageyama could probably recite so many secrets unknown to the public about every major territory, that Sawamura had almost adopted him into his ranks only for that reason alone. In the end he adopted him after the younger had wormed himself a special place in his heart and his bonded’s. If Kageyama knew anything special about the Aoba King and his entourage, he would pass the message to Tanaka, who would relay it to the second in command, Asahi Azumane, who would relay it to the Queen. By doing so, they had already won many arguments with other delegates like Nekoma or Fukurodani.

When the Aoba King entered, everyone except the King and Queen bowed to pay their respects. When they looked up, Kageyama unfortunately couldn’t see his face or anyone else’s, as Tsukishima blocked his view. When he heard that voice though, he didn't have to look to know who the mysterious king was.

“Sawamura, King of Karasuno, I would like to present to you the new King of Aoba Johsai, Oikawa Tooru. My name is Iwaizumi Hajime, and I am the second in command of the territory. On behalf of our party, we thank your warm welcome.”

“Thank you, we are very pleased to have you with us. Please have a seat”

“Kageyama, what’s wrong, you look pale?”

Tanaka whispered, trying to shake Kageyama from his stupor. Kageyama gulped and turned towards the other. He leaned towards him and said:

“The King is originally Kitagawa Daiichi’s king, if he sees me, Karasuno will be found guilty of stealing a King’s intended bonded if he hasn’t bonded yet, please hurry.”

Tanaka was wide-eyed and practically flung himself at Asahi to tell of what he heard. The others around Kageyama had heard what he said and started closing themselves as secretly has possible around him to hide him from anyone’s view. Daichi had been talking to Oikawa when he had seen from the corner of his eye his bonded looking at where their friends are, with a frown on his face. Daichi doesn’t stop his talking, though he had faltered a second too much, bringing Iwaizumi’s attention on what was happening, He only saw the second in command suddenly closer to the Queen’s side, trying to speak to him. He frowned and turned towards Oikawa to make him see. Oikawa frowned and suddenly spoke up.

“I understand we might not be fully welcomed guests with what happened with you and the old King of Aoba, Queen Sugawara, but speaking to your second in command all secretive like that isn’t going to help this conversation whatsoever.”

Sugawara had looked up after being addressed, and had been frowning, looking like a little kid who had been caught stealing food. He sighed and turned towards Asahi.

“Can you say out loud what you were going to tell me? I’m sure it isn’t bad enough for you to change your mind, Oikawa-Sama.”

“Well then let’s hear it.”

Asahi looked uncomfortable, while Tanaka was trying to catch either the Queen or King’s eye, but they were too focused on Asahi. Asahi sighed, thinking of how to say what he heard without bringing attention to Kageyama.

“Um, I was just going to point to my Queen that Oikawa-Sama is the King of not only Aoba Johsai but Kitagawa Daichi, whom we had heard of more about prior to the King of Aoba Johsai…”

Sugawara and Daichi looked at each other with wide eyes before their expression hardened. They turned towards Oikawa and his entourage, and anyone in the room could see their friendly demeanour had completely vanished. Daichi stood from his throne while looking at Oikawa.

“See, this might not have changed your opinion, but it has changed ours. Tell me, Oikawa, where is your intend bonded? Everyone knows the story, and Karasuno has no plans to be at peace with a King who can’t even protect their bonded- “

“And what did you hear? Last time I checked; my intended died after he stupidly went to a shark’s nest. I’m not controlling enough to check on him at every given second, now am I?”

A scoff could be heard to his right, where everyone turned only to see multiple Karasuno members angrily looking at them all. Kageyama immediately knew this wasn’t going to end well, so he clung to Tsukishima making everyone else who were glaring turn towards him to attend to him to see what was wrong. The Aoba Johsai couldn’t hear what he said but they could see how the one he clung to was helped by two other men to start carrying him away. Before Iwaizumi or Oikawa could speak up, Tanaka spoke up.

“Please excuse my brother-in-law, as you can see, his tail isn’t in a good shape due to an injury. It seems he must have gotten a cramp while tensing up due to the atmosphere here which has aggravated it. The three men will be escorting him away and will tend to him as they would be too young to fully participate in this meeting. Please do not take offense.”

Oikawa had immediately turned towards Kageyama, only to be unable to see his face, only how his tail was hidden away by cloth, which was clearly impossible to swim in. He nodded though he turned towards three of his men.

“Kyoutani, Kindaichi and Kunimi, go help them. I’m sure this conversation wouldn’t be pleasant for you either, if Sawamura accepts.”

“Of course, please do not worry. I can see they are as young as the ones who are leaving.”

And with that, they all left, with Yachi following behind as she didn’t want to be left alone.

“Tobi, do you know the men who are following us?”

Yachi asked as quietly as possible while hiding her mouth from the three. Kageyama had been glad for Tsukishima doing his hair in a way you couldn’t see his face much. He looked at Yachi before giving a barely there nod. Tsukishima immediately frowned, trying to figure out who they might’ve been before Hinata suddenly made a weird noise. Everyone turned towards him while he bent down towards Kageyama’s ear.

“They were the old friends who left you for dead, right?”

Kageyama froze before making a two motion with his fingers. And that was the only thing needed for them to make sure no one would see his tail or his face for the rest of their stay. Yachi took to showing the three others where their party would sleep while the others left for their home. Kageyama had immediately started crying, apologizing repeatedly. They didn’t know why he was apologising so they only twisted around him so he could be enveloped by his friends.

A few hours had passed before someone had come looking for them. Sugawara entered their home and cooed. He sat in front of them and started explaining the situation. Apparently, Oikawa had gone made over the fact Daichi basically said he was incapable of protecting his people, so a competition between him and different members of Karasuno would take place. Things like a race, jumping as high as possible out of water, a hunt, and a scavenging hunt would occur. If Oikawa lost any, he would forget about what happened and the treaty would start from scratch. If no one beat him though, he would take a few liberties, like humiliating Daichi and a few other members, like Tsukishima who had scoffed at him. He said Hinata was going to be the one participating in the jumping competition, while Tanaka would hunt, Ennoshita would scavenge.

“We’re hoping we won’t have to take place in the race since no one in this pod is fast enough to beat him- “

“I am.”

Everyone in the room turned wide-eyed towards Kageyama, who had sat up at Sugawara’s words.

“One of the reasons he hated me so much was because I was faster than him. I could beat him if it comes down to it. Let’s hope I won’t have to though.”

“But Tanaka said you were injured- “

“Suga-san. He made sure to say I had an injury. I do in fact get cramps, though it’s usually after a long race. Since this will be of speed, there’s no problem for me. He doesn’t know how long we were standing there; we could just lie and say it had been an hour at least before the whole argument happened. He can’t refuse. Maybe he’ll even go easy on me thinking I’m a joke or something. The point is, I’ll be racing him. I know the second fastest is you, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to have you or Daichi participating. Anyone else isn’t fact enough whatsoever. Please trust me.”

At dinner, everyone was tense, thinking about how tomorrow would go down. Kageyama was sitting between Tanaka and Kiyoko. He was trying as best as possible to never look up, though he could see through his fringe the place where the Aoba Johsai party were huddled together, laughing, as if they knew they were already victorious. Kageyama knew why they were thinking that way: Oikawa was good at everything and would beat his friends. He couldn’t let him humiliate Daichi or hurt Tsukishima in any way. So, he would beat him in that stupid race. If he had to show himself to do so, he doesn’t care. His friends had been there for him since the start. When he had screamed after being bit, Tanaka, who had been out hunting in Aoba Johsai, had swam with his team as fast as possible to help. And he had. He had killed that shark with his bare hands, scaring other sharks away. When he asked who Kageyama belonged to, Kageyama had only started sobbing saying he was left for dead, so he had no one. Tanaka had decided to take him back to Karasuno, where Sugawara himself had taken care of him. They had all loved his eyes and ended up just adopting him as a Karasuno mer the moment the younger had smiled at Sugawara in thanks.

And now, Oikawa had suddenly appeared, seemingly bitter about the fact Daichi had only spoken the truth about letting Kageyama die. He was bitter enough to believe he has the right to humiliate Daichi in however way he sees fit, but also going against anyone who seemed against him, Like Tsukishima and Hinata, the most furious of his friends. Kageyama knew this wasn’t going to end well for anyone. If he didn’t race, his friends would suffer, if he raced and lost, Oikawa would not only hurt his friends, but he would make him suffer too, if he raced and won, Oikawa would sign the treaty, yes, but he would now know Kageyama is still alive. He would probably fight Daichi to get him back just to be petty. In the end, Kageyama would suffer. He just hoped no one else would.

The day had started with Oikawa and Tanaka going hunting, to see who could bring the biggest predator back. Tanaka had been able to bring back probably the biggest great white shark anyone had seen, but Oikawa, with the advantage of his voice, had brought back a killer whale. He had been crowned winner. Then, he went on a scavenger hunt against Ennoshita, to see who could bring the most valuable objects in a designated area. Someone from the opposite team had placed objects at random, Ennoshita had been able to get 10 out of 12, while Oikawa had found all 12 items. He had been crowned winner yet again. They all ate lunch in different parts before the scout who had been close to the surface had called everyone to say there seemed to be no humans around. The jumping competition began.

The goal was simple. Two people, one from each opposite team, would both hold a large stick together, so no one would cheat, out of water. They would hold still, and Oikawa and Hinata would take turns hitting the branch with a part of their body. They would raise the stick higher and higher until someone after three tries wasn’t able to touch it. They took place and started their jumps. Hinata, with his orange with black patches on his tail, was like a ray sunshine. Oikawa, with his tail coloured in different hues of blue, looked as if the water was the one jumping. Oikawa had the advantage of height, while Hinata had more stamina. The two jumped for close to an hour before they both were at a height when neither had touched the stick on their second tries. Everyone held their breath while looking at Oikawa’s last try (literally since they can’t breathe outside of the water) (because I said so). He managed to touch the stick barely. This meant this was Hinata’s last try. He jumped, and everyone could see he was going to make it, before he suddenly opened his eyes mid-air, and saw Oikawa looking at him with furious eyes. He lost his bearing enough to miss the stick by mere centimetres. Oikawa won.

Sugawara immediately rushed towards Kageyama when he realised what was going to happen.

“You can’t do this, if you swim with the cloth on, they’ll ask to see why, we can’t find a way around this- “

“We could. There are some of them whom I had never seen before. If we do it in a secluded place and someone casts a shadow when they check, the gold on my tail won’t be noticeable. The other option would be to race at night, saying everyone needs to eat before the final part. We must try, I’m the only hope now. Please.”

“I’ll ask- “

“So, who am I racing?”

Oikawa suddenly appeared beside Kageyama and Sugawara. Kageyama immediately whined while hiding behind Sugawara while he full-on growled at Oikawa. Oikawa put his hands up and swam a bit away, while Daichi appeared in front of Sugawara to calm him down.

Kageyama was in Sugawara’s arms, listening to the other argue with Daichi about Oikawa taking his baby away, all the while trying to see Oikawa to growl some more.

“Koushi, breathe, everything is fine, no one is going to take your baby away, I need you to calm down.”

“If he tries to get close again, I’ll rip his throat out, understand?!”

He looked at Oikawa and growled out:

“You will race my child after dinner, I’m sure you’ll need all the help you can get to come close to winning.”

The dinner was tense to say the least. Sugawara had taken Tanaka, Ennoshita, Hinata and Kageyama aside to feed them himself, to try and cheer them up. He was fretting, swimming over each of them to try and give as much encouragement as possible. Kageyama could feel Oikawa’s eyes on him and had even caught his eye behind his bangs. He didn’t look up for the rest of the meal. When everyone was finished, Asahi took Oikawa and Kageyama around the small course they would race. When standing by the starting line, Iwaizumi approached Kageyama.

“I’m going to have to ask on behalf of Aoba Johsai to take of what is hiding your tail- oh.”

When he swam towards him, Kageyama knew what he wanted. He had already undone the knot by the time the older started speaking and was now gaping at the large bite mark on his tail. Every Aoba Johsai member had stopped what they were doing to stare, horrified at the deep scar left of a shark attack. Kageyama could see Kunimi and Kindaichi had started shaking, absolutely petrified, and another merman had swum to take them in his arms. Iwaizumi looked deeply apologetic, and suddenly confused.

“You’re racing with a scar as big as that? Isn’t that extremely dangerous?”

“No offense, but I don’t see how that’s any of your business who we choose to represent Karasuno.”

The voice of Kiyoko could be heard by everyone around since a silence had fallen after the reveal. Iwaizumi frowned before nodding and swimming away. Kageyama turned towards her to smile and give a nod of thanks. Kageyama and Oikawa were side by side ready to start. Oikawa suddenly turned towards him.

“Only one person has ever beat me. I promised my late father whomever would beat me in terms of speed would be my intended. If you win, know I will court you even if I don’t want to.”

Silence. No one could say a thing. All of Aoba Johsai seemed completely ok with what he said, as if they had known all along what he was going to say before he even opened his mouth. Kageyama though, Kageyama hadn’t known. When he had beat him at age 10 while Oikawa was 12, everyone said it was a fluke. When he didn’t stop beating him though, Oikawa had started to hate him. He had never courted him though. When his father had been on the brink of death, he had ordered for him to choose Kageyama. Kageyama didn’t know the reason was because he was faster. He seethed. If he had known, he would’ve lost on purpose.

Kageyama turned towards the older and spoke with as much fervour as possible.

“If I beat you and you want to court me, I will reject you.”

Oikawa gaped, Iwaizumi gaped, Sugawara gaped. No one had expected him to get so furious, even the ones who know of his past thought he could never go against the older. They all thought wrong. Kageyama was fed up; if people could’ve just told him about this stupid tradition or whatever deal Oikawa had made with the late king, he would have never even participated in those stupid races.

Oikawa found his bearings and glared, furious at being rejected without having even tried. They took their place, and Asahi counted down before the start. At his go, they were off. They were racing alongside each other, not one gaining from the other. Oikawa turned towards the other to use his voice when he suddenly saw the ghost of his intended right beside him. He lost a small bit of speed, which suddenly urged Kageyama to find the strength to push through and gain enough to pass the finish line before the other. Karasuno were screaming in happiness, while Aoba Johsai were confused as to how their King, who had always won, could lose.

Iwaizumi zoomed towards his King to get an explanation, only to see the other crying. He immediately knew something was wrong and grabbed his face in his hands, turning him away from the others.

“Oikawa, what’s going on? Why did you lose? Why are you crying?”

“Iwa-chan, do you think I could really find two people in this ocean, both younger than me, both with black silky hair, who could beat me?”

Iwaizumi looked confused before catching on. He turned his eyes towards the group surrounding the winner and saw him. Kageyama Tobio, Oikawa’s intended. He seemed to sense someone looking at him before he turned towards the duo. When Kageyama realised he could see them as clear as day, he knew he was screwed.

Oikawa and Daichi had gone with their second in command to speak about the treaty as was agreed before. Kageyama had immediately swam off after realising everyone had figured who he was. Unfortunately for him, he hadn’t gone far enough to hide from Kindaichi and Kunimi. When he saw them approach, he didn’t have the courage to run away. He stayed sitting where he was, until they were in front of him. When he finally looked up, he was shocked to see both crying while looking at his tail. When they realised, they had his attention, Kindaichi started sobbing while apologizing, and saying things that didn’t make any sense. Kunimi finally spoke up.

“We were going with what everyone was doing, and we didn’t think about you at all. With the sharks though, we had an agreement with the others that this would be the last time they would bully you and in exchange we would get you to agree that when you turn Queen you wouldn’t do anything to them. When the sharks were coming towards you, Kindaichi and I had been swimming back towards you when we were also attacked by one, hence the small scars on the end of our tails. We saw so much blood, and you stopped screaming so we thought they had killed you. When we went to tell the others, we came back only to see a shark missing and no remains of your body, just the cloth we used to wrap your tail. We would like to apologize, for never doing anything against well you basically being treated like nothing- “

“You were hurt while trying to come to me?? You should’ve never tried to come back, I saw Kindaichi trying to come to me, so I thought I screamed for you guys to leave but I guess I was in too much pain… I can’t forgive you yet, but I forgive you for putting me in that situation, since your scars are plenty to show your guilt. Just, can I ask you guys something?”

“Anything. Anything and we’ll do it.”

“Kindaichi, breathe. Yes, Kageyama?”

“Did you know… about Oikawa only bonding with someone faster than him?”

“No. He only spoke about that during the funeral we held for you, saying that he would designate the next King if he didn’t find someone faster than him. But Kageyama… he found the stash of treasures you kept hidden away. When he found them, he never left. He always slept in that cramped place, surrounded by your energy he would say, your soul. Please trust me when I say he loved you then and now too- “

“Then why was I treated like absolute trash? He would give me the most disgusting food at dinner, his gifts were things a child could’ve found, he never addressed me in a nice way… What am I supposed to think now? That all along he loved me yet treated me like absolutely nothing? If so, how am I supposed deal with this? I’m alive, and technically, only death or exile can break an intended agreement. I’m not dead, and I technically left on my own. So, we’re still supposed to bond. Did I miss another social queue and that’s how every bonded is treated?!”

Kageyama panted before shooting off. He didn’t get very far, before Hinata and Sugawara were by his side. They took him further up, where a rock was overseeing everyone else. Kageyama was grateful, since it means no one can sneak up on him. Sugawara laid the younger’s head on his lap while Hinata took Kageyama’s tail and put hit on his own lap. They laid there for a few moments before Sugawara spoke up.

“What did he used to feed you?”

“Shark meat, or electric eel.”

“Tobi, isn’t that your favourite food though? You always pick it during dinner…”

“I got too used to it. Eating something else made my stomach weird.”

“Kageyama-kun, do you remember ever eating shark or eel in front of Oikawa before you were chosen? Or right after?”

_“See, Tobio? Sharks might not have the best of foods, but they help your female reproductive system to develop properly. That’s why the one taking the entered would usually eat a lot before a night with their bonded. As for electric eels, the energy, no matter how much it hurt your mouth and tongue, will help you keep up with your partner.”_

_“So, if I were to ever have a chance to bond with Oikawa-san, I would be the entered, right? So, I would have to eat it lots?”_

_“Yes, Tobio, that’s right!”_

_“Then shark food is my favourite food! And electric eel is my second favourite food! But what was the stuff about being the entered and the one who enters- “_

_“Tooru? Don’t eavesdrop, come in if you want to speak.”_

_“Sorry father. Tobio-chan, mind leaving for a bit? I need to speak to his Highness for a bit. I’ll call you back in soon, don’t worry.”_

_“Yes, Oikawa-san.”_

_Leaving, young Kageyama only heard the start of their conversation._

_“I couldn’t hear what you told him for him to ask, but why would you say something about that to someone so young?”_

_“He needs to know if he’ll ever bond with someone, and most of all if that someone is- “_

“Once. I once said they were my favourite food, but mostly because I had heard of their benefits, not because I liked eating them.”

“But did Oikawa know that?”

“What do you…”

_“I couldn’t hear what you told him for him to ask”._

“No. No, he only heard me say they were my favourite, not why they were…”

“Suga-san, are you saying Oikawa-Sama was being one of those mers who act like they don’t love their bonded when they would like die for them? Like in that story you used to tell during plain moons?”

“Yes, Hinata-kun, that’s what I’m trying to show Kageyama-kun- “

“That doesn’t excuse his treatment. I used to go above and beyond to find him his favourite fish for breakfast, he never appreciated it. I used to go on every single scavenger hunt and bring him back something, he would always ask if that was all, and scoff at me while taking it.”

“Tobi, didn’t you say you had a hide with all your treasure for him? You’re saying you had more time to get stuff?”

“No, I would get two things, one I would give him immediately and the other I would take to my hide.”

“Oh Kageyama-kun, did you ever hide the fact you took two things?”

“Well kind of? I would swim really fast in my hide to put one of them, then swim to the throne hall to give Oikawa-san the other one.”

“Tobi, you’re a horrible liar, I’m sure everyone knew you always took two.”

“Did not!”

“Did to!”

“Children! Hinata-kun don’t be rude, you’re as bad of a liar as he is.”

“Hey no fair”

“Kageyama-kun, I think what Hinata-kun was trying to say is that I believe people knew you always took two things, but only gave one to Oikawa. He probably got ideas, like you were courting someone else, maybe?”

“…oh. I didn’t think about that”.

“You never think, Bakageyama.”

“Says you!”

“Boys! Not the point!”

“Sorry, Suga-san”

Sugawara sighed at their synched answer, before looking down at Kageyama with a soft smile.

“I can’t find an excuse for his other behaviours, but as you can see, certain things were just misunderstandings. When Oikawa comes out, I think you should have a proper talk with him, to understand his real feelings. He did after all cry when he realised you were alive. And your old friends, saying he cried for you.”

Kageyama looked deep in thought, while Hinata was looking down at everybody else. Sugawara was looking up towards the half-moon, when Hinata tapped him on his shoulder. Sugawara looked, only to see Hinata silently pointing towards Daichi and Oikawa slowly swimming their way. Sugawara nudged Kageyama, who lifted his head to lock eyes with Oikawa. They both had red-rimmed eyes, staring at the other without noticing what was happening around them. Daichi had swam towards Sugawara and took his and Hinata’s hand to lead them away. When Kageyama felt them moving from underneath him, he broke eye contact long enough for the two to slide from under him, before he sat up and looked at Oikawa, signalling to his right for the other to sit. The three left, even though Hinata had to be dragged by the royal couple, while Oikawa made his way beside Kageyama.

They sat there, looking at each other without saying a word. Kageyama could see Oikawa had acquired a few scars, most probably from his war against the old Aoba Johsai King. A claw mark was on his left rib, and there seemed to be small scratches also from a claw on his tail in various places. On his neck, he bore a necklace hiding the place where a bond bite takes place, which was tradition for royals to wear. The necklace seemed awfully familiar, but Kageyama couldn’t recall where he had seen it before. He knew it wasn’t the same one Oikawa used to wear before, but for someone he remembers seeing it somewhere. He was staring at it intensely trying to remember before he heard Oikawa lightly laughing. Kageyama blushed, realising what he was doing, and looked away. Oikawa stopped laughing and looked up at the moon.

“It was yours.”

_“_ _Now that you’re going to become a royal, you will need a necklace to hide your neck. Come with me so you can pick one from a collection, though I will tell you to take the ugliest to not overstep your boundaries - “_

_“No need, elder. I’ll go with him.”_

_“Oikawa-Sama! You should be in your room, do not worry I will- “_

_“Elder. I will take him, prepare the dining hall for the two of us”._

_“Yes, Oikawa-Sama.”_

_Kageyama had not looked once at Oikawa, so he had not seen when he started swimming away. He only heard the other sighing before suddenly swimming close to him to take his hand and drag him to a room where a row of necklaces of old generations of Kings were kept. Oikawa gestured for the younger to take his pick. Kageyama swam a bit before picking what was probably the most used one of them all. Oikawa scoffed before taking his hand again and swimming around. Oikawa would pick one up and put it on Kageyama before muttering something and putting it back down. Oikawa was going to pick one before Kageyama suddenly gasped and took it from the table. He finally looked up at Oikawa, only the surprise the older when he put the necklace he chose on Oikawa’s neck. Oikawa blinked a few times before taking the necklace he had wanted to put on Kageyama’s neck. He had seen it when they entered the room, but he thought Kageyama wouldn’t be up for it. With what he just did though, he thought it would match the one Kageyama had picked. He took it and put it on the other’s neck._

_They both found the body mirror in the room and gazed upon themselves wearing matching necklaces. They were holding hands and looked like a royal couple meant to be._

“The one I had originally picked for you?”

“Yes, before the elders got in the way and gave you the one you had originally chosen for yourself while making me pick the most extravagant on for me. Tobi-Kageyama. Kageyama, I didn’t know about that. I thought you had gone back on your own to choose the one you wanted, so I just chose the one that worked the least with yours. I was blind to what was happening to you. I didn’t know you were being bullied by the elders and basically everyone else. When I was around, everyone acted as if you were already their Queen, so I didn’t know until you were gone. Iwa-chan only started to suspect things about three days before you were pronounced dead.”

Kageyama could see the sincerity and guilt in his eyes. From what Kageyama could remember, the people around him used to only treat him well if Iwaizumi or Oikawa were around. That’s why there were days Kageyama would follow Iwaizumi around, hoping for a day without any trouble from others. He would also have days where he would stay with Oikawa, but since they were observed, he was never treated badly by the older. The story about the necklace though… Kageyama could vaguely remember an elder whipping him on his tail before forcing him to choose an ugly one. When he saw Oikawa wearing a different necklace to what he had chosen, he had been sad. Kageyama had always thought the older had changed his mind and asked an elder to switch him to a different necklace.

“The elders were against our union from the start. They would comment on everything I did way before your father died. They didn’t like the fact he always wanted to talk to me without anyone in the room other than us. They didn’t like that I wasn’t originally from Kitagawa, and that my origins were a mystery. Everyone knew they hated me. When I was pronounced the chosen one, they all just followed their example because of their jealousy. I can’t fully believe you didn’t know. Oikawa-Sama, I thought you knew, and that’s why you hated me in return- “

“You’re back to calling me Oikawa? Even worse, Oikawa-Sama?”

“You started it by calling me Kageyama…”

“Because I wasn’t sure you would even want to be called anything by me anymore- “

“Well, same thing for me! I never knew my place with you! You treated me really horribly, how was I supposed to take it other than you hating me?!”

“I thought you had a lover!”

“…what?”

“I thought you had another lover. You spent a lot of time where no one saw you, you always went to get my fish for breakfast in a place where it’s known to have couple go there at night, you always got two treasures but only give me one, you never had enough appetite in the evenings, as though you had already eaten already… I just concluded you had someone else.”

“Oikawa-san. How do you want me to have had another lover, when the entire pod absolutely loved you? Maybe one could’ve tried tricking me, but it would’ve been impossible- “

“How are you so sure? Why do you think you wouldn’t have been seduced by a random- “?

“Because I loved you! I fell in love with you after our first race. Your father knew I had a crush on you, he choose me not because I beat you, but because I loved you!”

Oikawa was gobsmacked, while Kageyama had slapped his hand on his mouth when he realised what he said. They sat there staring at each other, both sporting faces of pure shock. Kageyama was turning red, spreading from his face to his torso, while Oikawa was smiling widely. Kageyama looked away, but Oikawa put his hand under his chin to guide him to look at him. Kageyama startled a bit, realising how close the older was to him so suddenly. He looked into Oikawa’s eyes, which had a certain glint in them, one he hadn’t remembered seeing, ever. That’s when he suddenly smiled.

Oikawa had never smiled at him after their union. He would always frown at him, or have an indifferent look in his eyes, but he had not remembered the other ever smiling at him. He knew he had wide eyes, probably full of wonder, but whatever it was made Oikawa giggle a bit. That was also new. He would sometimes laugh, but it was either at his expense or to mock him for something he had said. It had always been rude, so seeing the other laugh away, he smiled unconsciously. Oikawa, when seeing him smile, stopped smiling, only to suddenly squeeze Kageyama’s face in between his hands.

“Tobio. I fell in love with you after our first race too. Yes, I admit I was kind of jealous you had beat me, but seeing you smiling at me, swimming towards me to ask how I did the tricks I did, it made me soon forget about it. When we got together, I was grieving. I was so closed into myself, that I hadn’t realised what was happening to you. During the conference we had just now, Daichi explained what you told him. I thought you had a lover, and it was why you seemed so weird with me. I never thought you had been cast away by the pond. I know it’s a shitty apology, but Tobio, would you consider allowing me to court you anyways? I know we didn’t really get the chance to do so before, and since we live further apart, we could make this work? I just, please don’t disappear or tell me you don’t ever want to see me again. I couldn’t possibly live with that.”

Tobio looked on, not really knowing what to say. He really did fall in love with him when he was younger, but he had also been deeply hurt by the older. He knew now that what he thought was him always being treated horribly was an actual kept secret. He knew that the things he had brought for him to eat had probably been more for his benefit. He also knew that the jewels he bought could’ve been better received had the older known the other part was for him on their bonding night. That’s when he got the idea. A stupid idea, but an idea nonetheless to gain a bit of time for his feelings to be clearer.

“Oikawa. I think that I am still hurt over what happened. I want you to court me again, but I don’t want it to be as short as a month, knowing how impatient both of us are. So, I propose, that for every treasure I had kept away for you, that you bring me one in return. I’ll go with the others to get back the ones I had kept, and every week, we can meet to exchange a gift. We can see each other every week, and get to know each other better, without anyone else ruining our time. I can get over my feelings of hurt, and you can get over the fact I never came back to you even though I was alive.”

It had been a month since their arrangement. At first, Oikawa had been against weekly visits, so Kageyama had promised to change it every month to more and more time. Their visits had started with long talks about their feelings, and what exactly happened on both sides. When Oikawa learned about the eel and the shark meat, he had looked apologetic, explaining the same thing Sugawara had explained before. He would still sometimes bring him those, but he varied what foods he brought with him. After they got past all talks about feelings, they started to learn more about each other, from their likes to their dislikes, from their small quirks to distinguishing every small expression on the other. They got to the point that they didn’t have to speak for the other to understand what was going on. They started meeting every two nights, until Kageyama realised he had only ten treasures left to give. He asked that their meetings stopped to only being once a week, and even though Oikawa didn’t understand why, he didn’t object too much. When Kageyama arrived with his last treasure, he finally accepted Oikawa and their bond. Instead of going their separate ways like usual after a meeting, Kageyama followed Oikawa back home, showing every citizen of Aoba Johsai that he was going to officially be their Queen.

The bonding ritual took place, which consisted of their closest entourage attending, where Oikawa and Kageyama swore an oath to the God of all Waters. They then both took a turn in swearing an oath to each other then biting the neck of the other. There was then a celebration, where their entourage would each have a chance to speak to the couple and present them a token for their new home, whether decorative or useful. Sugawara and Sawamura had taken Oikawa aside to make sure he would never make Kageyama cry, while Iwaizumi had taken Kageyama aside to make sure he understood that if he ever had any trouble with anyone, even Oikawa, to come to him. Both were thankful for having such good friends, even though Hinata and Yachi had cried knowing they wouldn’t be able to see Kageyama every day, despite his promise to visit every week at least once.

\--A few years later—

“Tooru, apparently your daughter was out scavenging around reefs close to the Shiratorizawa borders.”

“Tobio, she is your daughter too- “

“Not when she’s misbehaving, she’s not. You spoiled her too much, she thinks she can do whatever she wants.”

“But mama, papa was the one who took me to the reefs! He said they weren’t dangerous- “

“Yes, Tomie, they aren’t dangerous when you’re accompanied by someone. The moment you are alone, anywhere can be dangerous! You wouldn’t want to end up with a nasty scar like mine, would you?”

“Sorry mama…”

“Oh, little princess, your mama is just scared, I’m sure you understand.”

“Yes papa…”

“Tomie, I’m not being strict to be rude. You can go anywhere you want; just tell someone you’re going somewhere ok? Anywhere can be dangerous, even for me or for your papa.”

“But you guys are super-fast! I’m sure you’re being too much…”

“Tomie, come sit on papa’s lap. Why don’t we tell you a little story, yeah? To bring your spirits up a bit.”

“I want to hear about when you were able to kill a killer whale with your siren voice!”

“Sure darling. Well as you know, your mama disappeared a while back from my old territory…”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed reading! I'm sorry the ending is rushed, I might come back to this one day, but I wanted to post today for Oikage day...
> 
> if you like Oikage, I have other fics posted of them, so feel free to check them out!


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